You don't have to be a doctor to save lives...just an advocate with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association. The Minnesota Advocacy Beat is a resource for those of you working hard to fight heart disease and stroke across MN and the country. Keep up-to-date on state policy issues, check out what is going on in the media and let us know what you are doing as a You’re the Cure advocate!

Throughout the year, our blog will feature AHA volunteer stories of survival and hope.
We know there are thousands of stories like these - thats why we want to say “Thanks” to all of you for giving your time and sharing your lives with us.
You can’t spell CURE without U! Thank you for all you do to build healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease and stroke. YOU’RE THE CURE!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

As our lawmakers work on a solution for the state’s budget crisis and looming government shutdown, some are indicating a willingness to consider a tobacco tax as part of the final budget deal. To encourage this solution, the American Heart Association has placed an advertisement in papers around the state urging Minnesotans to send the ad to lawmakers and show their support for an increased tobacco tax. If you missed the ad, you can see it here: AHA Tobacco Tax Ad.

Despite much progress over the past several years, tobacco use continues to be a leading cause of preventable death and disease in Minnesota. More than 5,100 Minnesotans lose their lives to tobacco use each year and smoking costs Minnesotans nearly $3 billion a year in related health care costs.

A tobacco price increase should be part of a broader state budget solution because it:

Protects Kids:• Raising the price of tobacco is one of the most effective ways to keep kids from using tobacco• Estimated to save 61,700 Minnesota kids from becoming smokers. That’s about the number of kids currently enrolled in 8th grade in Minnesota!

Protects Minnesotans’ Health:• Raising the price of tobacco is one of the most effective ways to encourage tobacco users to quit. In fact a $1.50 increase will help more than 28,000 Minnesotans to quit smoking

Generates Revenue for the state budget:• An increase in the price of tobacco would generate $400 million for the state budget• One of the public’s preferred methods for helping reach a budget compromise

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

New cigarette warning labels unveiled today by the Food and Drug Administration will help give us the momentum needed to eradicate tobacco use in our nation. For the first time in 25 years, cigarette warning labels have been dramatically altered to graphically demonstrate the specific, serious health risks associated with smoking and these warnings will not only tell smokers how bad tobacco use is, but also direct them to smoking cessation resources that can help them quit.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 45 million Americans smoke cigarettes, about 20 percent of the population, and one in five high school students still smoke. The new health warnings represent an aggressive and welcome approach to reducing smoking rates that have leveled off in recent years as tobacco companies continue to launch campaigns to entice new smokers and maintain current customers.

The American Heart Association strongly believes that the graphic depictions of smoking-related diseases on cigarette packages will drive home the message that tobacco use is an equal opportunity killer, affecting smokers and nonsmokers alike. In the U.S., about one-third of smoking-related deaths are linked to heart disease and stroke. Cigarette smoking causes about 443, 000 premature deaths each year and about 49, 000 of these deaths are due to secondhand smoke. Undoubtedly, the new graphic health warnings will heighten awareness about the dangers of smoking and more importantly, encourage smokers to quit and discourage smoking initiation. We’re confident that the new labels will move us closer to our goal of making the nation 100 percent smoke-free.

Despite much progress over the past several years, tobacco use continues to be a leading cause of preventable death and disease in Minnesota. More than 5,100 Minnesotans lose their lives to tobacco use each year and smoking costs Minnesotans nearly $3 billion a year in related health care costs. The American Heart Association recognizes this threat and promotes a $1.50 per pack tobacco price increase. It’s a win-win-win for Minnesota! A tobacco price increase should be part of a broader state budget solution because it offers new revenue, benefits Minnesotans’ health and protects our children.

Friday, June 17, 2011

This Sunday is Father's Day. How are you going to spend it? Get Active with Dad! There are many ways that you can help celebrate Father's Day and that are beneficial to your heart. Check out some of our favorites!

This summer’s Bike Walk Week celebration will be June 4-12, 2011. All of the Bike Walk Week activities highlight the advantages of getting around without the use of a car. Bicycling and walking are more than just leisure activities –they promote better health and a cleaner environment, and save you money. The average family can save $5,000-$10,000 per year by reducing the number of cars they own.

A major focal point for the week is Bike Walk to Work Day, Thursday, June 9. In the Twin Cities area there are several other events throughout the week, including the American Heart Association Heart Walk, Grand Old Day, Women’s Wednesday, Yoga on the Greenway, and Bike Walk to the Twins Game on Sunday, June 12. New this year is the region’s first Cyclovia or “Open Streets” celebration, along Lyndale Avenue on Sunday, June 12. Communities around the state are also planning activities during the week. Additional events will be announced on the Bike Walk Week web site (http://www.bikewalkweek.org/), which is also the place to register to participate. By registering for Bike Walk week, participants pledge to make at least one trip each week without using a car

Monday, June 6, 2011

CPR saves lives, it's that simple. If someone you loved suddenly collapsed and needed CPR, would you know what to do?

Simply put: The life you save with CPR is most likely to be someone you love. Sadly, 70 percent of Americans may feel helpless to act during a cardiac emergency because they either do not know how to administer CPR or their training has significantly lapsed. This alarming statistic could hit close to home, because home is exactly where 80 percent of cardiac arrests occur.

After you send the message to your legislators, please take a minute to visit www.heart.org/CPR and learn how to perform Hands-Only CPR. Once you have learned CPR, share this video with your friends and family so they are able to save your life!

Hands-Only CPR involves two simple steps: 1. Call 9-1-1 and 2. Push hard and fast on the center of the chest until professional help arrives. The American Heart Association has endorsed Hands-Only CPR as a treatment for adult cardiac arrest victims since 2008, and studies have shown it is as effective as CPR with breaths. In addition, people who watch a brief Hands-Only CPR training video are significantly more likely to attempt CPR, according to a recent study published in the association’s scientific journal Circulation.

Hands-Only CPR is recommended for adults who suffer a cardiac arrest at home, at work or in another public location. Children under eight years old still need full CPR with chest compressions and breaths since the cause of their cardiac arrest is typically respiratory-related.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Our nation’s obesity epidemic calls for effective measures to help Americans make informed choices about the nutritional quality of their meals. The overconsumption of unhealthy foods and beverages combined with inactive lifestyles has contributed to alarming obesity rates with nearly 150 million adults and one in three children in the U.S. overweight and obese. Many suffer from serious health conditions including type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure and other risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.

The American Heart Association applauds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for developing the new food icon to help guide consumers toward healthier diets to reduce their risk for life-threatening illnesses and minimize mixed messages about a healthy eating pattern and what foods should be included to promote ideal health. We commend the agency’s efforts to translate the Dietary Guidelines for Americans into a more consumer-friendly format.

The new plate-shaped logo, divided into the basic food groups, will emphasize the importance of increasing consumption of whole grains, low-fat dairy products and lean proteins. More importantly, the symbol conveys that half the plate should consist of fruits and vegetables. These guidelines align with the association’s diet and lifestyle recommendations. However, it is our hope that the program will eventually provide detailed information on healthy beverage options and establish robust evaluation to determine consumer acceptance and use of the new graphic.

We look forward to working with the USDA to promote the new consumer education campaign and will continue to stress the importance of effectively balancing calories with physical activity to manage weight and improve overall health.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Carlos Riera and his family used to spend their Sunday afternoons strolling around the mall or gathered around the television set in their northeast Minneapolis home. But this spring they traded their shopping bags and couch for a pair of cleats and a field of green grass.

Every Sunday, the Riera family plays soccer with the North East Independent Soccer League, as part of a larger community project to reduce tobacco use, increase exercise and improve health in the Latino community.

"Playing soccer is a different way for us to be entertained," Riera said. "It's a way for us to get out of the house, and another way for us to exercise."

Unlike the Riera family, however, many Hispanics and members of other Twin Cities minority groups get very little exercise -- especially compared to the nonminority community.

Federal health statistics show that residents of Hennepin and Ramsey counties get far more exercise than the national average -- but that minority communities in the two counties lag far behind.

Those numbers are a small window into the larger problem of health disparities between Minnesota's white and minority populations -- a gap that has troubled the state's health authorities for years.

"[Minorities] have grown from 5 percent [of the state's population] 20 years ago to almost 15 percent now, yet we have the largest health disparities in things like diabetes and cardiovascular disease,'' said Jose Gonzalez, director of the Minnesota office of minority and cultural health. "It's our populations of color that get impacted the most."

Hennepin County, for example, had the state's lowest obesity rate in 2006, at 23 percent. Yet its obesity rates for Hispanics, American Indians and blacks are above the national averages for those groups.

Similar ethnic disparities show up for chronic, costly diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

Those gaps have grave consequences for the entire state, health authorities say.

"When any of us have problems with our health, we all pay for it in terms of insurance, or in taxes for state health programs," said Marc Manley, chief prevention officer for the Blue Cross Foundation. "If we as a state or community can do something to help [minorities] stay healthy, it helps us all financially."

Social determinantsHealth disparities often reflect larger social factors such as poverty and education, according to Martha Roberts, supervisor of the physical activity and nutrition program for the Minnesota Department of Health.

The minority populations of Minnesota often live in low-income neighborhoods, where exercise and healthy groceries may be hard to get.

"If you live in a poor community, there may not be many parks or bike trails, and you may live in what is known as a food desert, where healthy food may not be available,'' Manley said.

To help counter those problems, in 2009 Minnesota launched the Statewide Health Improvement Program, which provides local health boards and tribal communities grants to fund programs such as Farms to Schools, where local farmers sell produce to school districts.

Gonzalez said that, although obesity and diabetes are largely influenced by diet, another factor needs to be addressed. "I think it has a lot to do with a lack of physical activity, especially in our students," he said.

According to the 2010 Minnesota Student Survey, 13 percent of 12th-grade Hispanic boys and 20 percent of girls said they don't get any exercise during the week, compared with 9 percent of white boys and 12 percent of white girls.

"Unless we go out there and do more, especially with our kids, the [health] disparities will continue," Gonzalez said.

Several other programs, not funded by the state, are also attempting to close the gaps. Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio, or CLUES, is one. With funding from partners like the Minnesota Wells Fargo Foundation and the Xcel Energy Foundation, CLUES has programs targeted specifically at the Hispanic community, including home visits by volunteers to teach families how to cook healthier meals. It also helps fund the North East Independent Soccer League.

Soup and smoothiesRiera, his wife, Paulina, and their three children joined the league after Riera learned at his church about a program called the Diverse Racial Ethnic Groups and Nations project, which works to reduce tobacco use in the Hispanic community and promote healthful eating and exercise habits.

His children grew up watching him play soccer, and are now active in the league. "We don't have to push them to get to the games,'' he said. "If anything, they push us to go because they love playing soccer.''

Riera said he has taken advantage of both the soccer team and the nutrition advice.

"We tell our kids that if they eat their fruits and vegetables they will be stronger to play soccer,'' Riera said. "But sometimes they don't like everything we try to give them. We have to sneak it into their smoothies in the morning or in their soup so they don't notie it."

Jose Arrias, manager of the soccer league, said families like the Rieras are common in his organization, but that it's not always easy to get people to change their habits.

"We can give them all the information needed, but it's up to the individual to make those changes," Arrias said.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Thanks to Senator Franken and Senator Klobuchar for signing a letter urging Senate Appropriations to continue support of the Rural and Community Access to Emergency Devices Program and other rural health programs in FY 2012. The Rural and Community Access to Emergency Devices Program helps small communities and rural areas purchase AED’s, train first responders and lay rescuers in their use and places them in public areas where sudden cardiac arrest is likely to occur.

Survival rates for out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest victims remain at 8 percent. However, a victim’s chance of survival more than doubles with immediate CPR and early defibrillation—an electrical shock to help restore a heart to its normal rhythm— using an automated external defibrillator (AED). Competitively awarded grants under the Rural Access to Emergency Devices Program allow states to purchase AEDs, train lay rescuers and first responders in their use, and place them in public areas where sudden cardiac arrests are likely to occur.

MINNEAPOLIS - Only 8 percent of people who suffer from sudden cardiac arrest at home survive, but a new and easier way to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) could change that.

The American Heart Association is trying to get a million people to learn the Hands-Only method of CPR. Kim Harkins, Heartsafe Communities coordinator for Allina Hospitals and Clinics, says the new method is easy to learn, simple to do - and can save a life.

"When a person has a sudden cardiac arrest, seconds count. Any time we delay CPR or getting an AED defibrillator to that person, we know their chance of survival diminishes every minute."

Harkins says the new Hands-Only CPR method involves just two steps: Call 911, and then push hard and fast on the center of the person's chest. Wondering about the tempo? Think the Bee Gees.

" 'Staying Alive' - that's about 100 beats per minute and that's exactly where we want to be, which is a little faster than most people are used to from their traditional CPR classes."

Training classes are being offered at various locations across the state. People also can learn the method by watching a video online at heart.org/cpr.

Harkins says administering CPR in the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest can completely change the outcome - for the better.

You're the Cure

The American Heart Association is always looking for committed and active advocates -- like you-- to join our You're the Cure advocacy network. This group of volunteers contacts their elected officials to help pass important heart-healthy policies in their state and across the nation.